This disclosure relates generally to transparent flatbed scanning systems and more particularly relates to a method and system to modify image placement, size, and composition through use of an adjustable bounding box.
Scanning systems are typically utilized to convert paper-based objects, such as texts and graphics to an electronic format which can be analyzed, distributed, and archived. However, a typical flatbed scanner may be inconvenient for such tasks as scanning pages of a thick book, whose thickness results in the scanner cover being only partially closed, resulting in an image with undesirable artifacts. Additionally, because the image is scanned face down, the user is unable to project in advance what a resultant image will be until the image is actually generated. For example, if the user desires to reproduce only a portion of an image, there is no convenient way for the user to align the scanning document properly prior to scanning. This is particularly true in the case of a newspaper, in which the back side of a page provides no referents for location of material on the front side of a page. Or if a user wants to superimpose the image of one document onto that of another document in a precise location, alignment of each document is difficult, since both are face down on the image platen of the scanner. While overhead scanners of various types have been introduced to scan documents, particularly books, in a face-up position, the size and weight of these overhead scanners render them undesirable for the average consumer.
These problems have been partially addressed by U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,939 to Hu et al. (“Transparent and Flatbed Scanner”), which teaches a portable, stand-alone frame transparent scanner having a cradle including a base and a lid. When rested in the cradle, the frame transparent scanner operates as a regular flatbed scanner with the capability of scanning materials face up. Although such transparent scanners provide more flexible scanning capability, they do not resolve the problem of selecting a rectangular section from a scanned original. In existing scanning configurations, it is necessary for a user of a flatbed scanner to utilize a preview image controlled by operation of a mouse. Time delays result from the preview scan time (the scanner travels twice for each original) and subsequent mouse actions and/or magnification steps. The user's attention must alternate between two different tasks: placement of the original and view/operation selection through a computer interface. To enable scanning of multiple originals, each of which has different selection sizes, a more efficient and streamlined approach is desirable.